Preparing for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Canada is this weekend, it is a busy time for families who are working outside the home, or even for those who work at home to get prepared for this holiday without the heavy workload associated preparing and cooking meal. By spending 30-45 minutes a few days prior to "turkey day",eases the time spent in the kitchen, the day of, time better spent visiting with your guests.
At least 3-4 days before your big day, take your turkey from the freezer, put it in the veggie crisper lined with paper towels; 1/2-3/4 loaf of white bread or any day old buns, French or Italian loaf or combination, cut or tear into bite sized pieces, the bread you are using for the stuffing/dressing, lay it out on a sheet pan, or in a well ventilated strainer.turn the bread frequently, it must be dry to absorb the best flavours from the turkey and herbs you are using for the dressing. Prepare the pastry for pies if you are making them, wrap well, place in a zip lock in pie sized portions, for easy and fast pie making.
2 days before, Wash and cut up vegetables you are using for the dressing, put into a ziplock bag until ready to combine with the bread. Measure out the dressing herbs, sage, poultry seasoning, pepper and salt, strew over bread that is drying on the sheet pan. Prepare veggies for the side dishes, place in ziplock bags.
1 day before, prepare fruit for apple, pear/ginger, or pumpkin pie. prepare the squash for baking, roll out the dough for the pies, fill with fruit, and bake off until just about ready, fruit pies can be put back into oven after you remove the turkey for final baking, while you eat the main meal. check the defrosting turkey unwrap to be sure it is thawing, remove the package that holds the liver, heart and neck, place in a pan of cold water, enough to cover 2-3 cups along with a teaspoon of salt and a bay leaf, let simmer for an hour, remove foam, refridgerate until the day of, this is the stock for your dressing and gravy. Set table, linens, centre piece, dishes and glasses and flatware. Remember that you can always do a buffet in the kitchen, inviting guests to sit wherever they like or around the dining table, however you do it, don't forget he napkins!
Day of, try to get this done early in the morning, to have the turkey out of the oven before noon, the turkey can rest under foil, tea towels and blankets, for at least 3-4 hours, this produces the most juicy turkey and leaves time for you to finish the other prep, cooking and baking. First, sauté your prepared veggies for the dressing, put together with the dried bread 2 beaten eggs, and 1/2-1 cup of stock, wash and dry turkey, stuff inside with your prepared dressing, the dressing should hold together a bit when you squeeze it. If you are preparing the dressing in a casserole instead, make sure the dressing is more wet, and that you have added extra butter on top. Bake dressing, squash, sweet potatoe casserole, or other baked veggies in the oven the last hour of roasting the turkey. Take turkey out, put on a board that has a well around the edge so the juices will not overflow, cover turkey with foil, then a couple layers of tea towels, finally a thick blanket or two, to keep the heat and moisture in. Don't cut turkey until ready to serve. The turkey drippings and a bit of flour is a good start for gravy, heat roasting pan juices then add a few tablespoons of flour, enough to absorb the pan juices, cook and stir until all is bubbling, then slowly add the stock you made with the turkey neck and giblets of the bird, stir all well, it should start to thicken, transfer it to a pot, stir well, taste for seasoning adjust, then simmer until ready to serve. Put oven on the keep warm feature, place all dishes needing reheating in now, either in their oven proof serving dish or in the pan they were cooked in, wrapped well to keep them from drying out.
Get yourself ready, entertain your guests, either bring the turkey to carve at the table, or, carve in the kitchen, pull all of the side dishes from the oven set out, ready to serve with appropriate serving utensils, enjoy your dinner!